KL Rahul's LSG future sealed, batter meets Sanjiv Goenka to discuss big IPL auction plans
Published - 26 Aug 2024, 08:16 PM | Updated - 27 Aug 2024, 11:13 AM
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul has reportedly met franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka as his future with the IPL outfit remains uncertain.
Speculations are rife that the wicketkeeper-batsman would be leaving the franchise ahead of the next season after falling out with Goenka.
The LSG owner had publicly scolded the captain on the field after LSG's humiliating loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Set a target of 166 runs, Sunrisers Hyderabad had chased down the total in just 9.4 overs.
With the defeat dealing a huge blow to LSG's playoffs chances, Goenka did not shy away from giving a piece of his mind to KL Rahul on the field as soon as the game ended.
Soon after the incident, reports stated that the star batter would leave LSG for his former team Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
KL Rahul meets Sanjiv Goenka:
However, it seems like KL Rahul is set to stay with LSG. Cricbuzz has reported that the LSG captain visited the franchise's Kolkata office on Monday for a meeting with Goenka. The meeting, held at Goenka's office on Judges Court Road, Alipore, lasted approximately one hour.
The report stated that the meeting was the first formal interaction between Rahul and Goenka since the animated discussion after the game against SRH in May this year. The news outlet also reported that the meeting was centered around team composition and the potential retention of the LSG captain.
The Lucknow-based outfit is keen to have KL Rahul in its squad although the player's camp is yet to take a final call on the same. Rahul has been playing for LSG since 2022, the year in which they were inducted into the IPL. He has been their best performer with the bat since 2022.
In three seasons, Rahul has scored an impressive 1410 runs in 38 games with the help of 2 centuries and 10 half-centuries. He is the only batsman from LSG to reach 1000 runs in IPL so far. Meanwhile, LSG will be looking to bounce back next year after a disappointing campaign in IPL 2024. After qualifying for the playoffs in 2022 and 2023, they failed to make the cut in 2024.
